Tag: attrition

Da’Mario Jones, Ex-Wolverine

Da’Mario Jones (#10)

Rising senior Da’Mario Jones has left Michigan’s football program. He is rumored to be looking for a better playing opportunity elsewhere.

Jones moved around a bit in high school, so he was not on the local recruiting radar much before his senior year. He was committed to Central Michigan for a few months before the offer came from Michigan, which he jumped on almost immediately at the end of October in 2012. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 79 (LINK) and I even bumped that up to an 81 after the recruiting cycle ended (LINK). He was the best receiver in Michigan’s 2013 class, and that seems to still be true (Csont’e York was booted out of the program, while Jaron Dukes has yet to play a meaningful down of football), but 81 was obviously a reach for Jones.

Hit the jump for more on Jones’s departure.

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Blake Bars, Ex-Wolverine

Blake Bars

Offensive lineman Blake Bars has left the football program, reportedly to begin concentrating on his law degree. He would have been a fifth year senior for the upcoming season.

Bars committed to Michigan in June 2011 (LINK), and it seems very weird to me that I’m linking posts to my old-fashioned website from five years ago. Time flies. Anyway, he initially said that he was being recruited as a left tackle, which I thought might have been a bit of hogwash at the time. It turns out that he never sniffed the two-deep at left tackle. I initially gave him a TTB Rating of 71, but that dropped to a 62 once the 2012 recruiting class wrapped (LINK).

Hit the jump for more on Bars’s departure.

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Tom Strobel, Ex-Wolverine

Tom Strobel

Tom Strobel, who finished his redshirt junior year at Michigan, will not return to the Wolverines in the fall. It was announced on National Signing Day that he would be transferring to Ohio University to become a Bobcat.

Strobel was a class of 2012 prospect who was highly ranked at the time. He was a 6’6″, 240-pounder who was a 247 Composite 4-star, the #10 weakside end, and #178 overall. He picked Michigan over offers from Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, among others. I gave him a TTB Rating of 84.

Hit the jump for more on Strobel’s departure.

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Brian Cole, Ex-Wolverine

Brian Cole

Rising sophomore safety Brian Cole has been released from Michigan’s football program. He played in three games this past fall, mustering 1 reception for -1 yard against Utah when he was still playing offense. Later in the year – after a stint in the doghouse and a move to safety – he started earning some hype with his play in practices.

Cole was from Saginaw (MI) Heritage as part of the 2015 class and was a jack of all trades for his high school team. He ran the ball, caught the ball, played safety, returned kicks, punted, etc. His athleticism was good enough that he was ranked as a 247 Composite 4-star, the #5 athlete, and #74 overall. That made him Michigan’s 38th-best recruit in the Rivals era (LINK), which is no small feat. He was an Under Armour All-American and enrolled early at Michigan last winter.

Hit the jump for more on Cole and the state of the roster.

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Allen Gant, Ex-Wolverine

Allen Gant (#12)

Rising fifth year senior linebacker Allen Gant has chosen to move on from Michigan. He will “explore other options,” which often means attempting to transfer to another school. After four years in Ann Arbor, he should be eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer.

The son of former Michigan safety Tony Gant, Allen committed to Michigan in May 2011 (LINK) as a part of the class of 2012. He was recruited as a safety, but he never really contributed in the secondary. During his four years, he was mostly a special teamer and occasionally contributed as a backup linebacker in mop-up situations. He redshirted in 2012 and went on to make just 7 tackles in the next three seasons. He played SAM linebacker this past season, a position that was not used often since the Wolverines spent a lot of time in a nickel package. Theoretically, the SAM spot opened up with the graduation of James Ross III, but Gant probably wouldn’t have been the one filling that role, anyway.

As you can see, I was not much of a fan of Gant’s game when he committed. I gave him a TTB Rating of 58 initially and bumped that up to a 63 at the end of the recruiting cycle. Even those relatively low ratings were overestimations. He also had offers from a couple MAC schools, Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky, Stanford, and West Virginia. Like other former Wolverines, perhaps he can move on to the MAC and make some kind of impact. This departure had been expected for a while, and it should not hurt Michigan going forward.